Announcements

Stratus: The Rise of Woolwalker ¶

Information ¶

By majjus_

Banner by Scorpioon

We are excited to announce our eight tournament: Stratus: The Rise of Woolwalker! This will be our third CTW tournament.

Team Information

Teams must have a minimum of 10 players registered on their roster with a maximum of 14 and must field a minimum of 6 out of 8 players in official matches.

More information will be provided in a separate post.

Email tm@stratus.network regarding any issues with our teams system.

Gamemode and Format

Teams will face each other in Capture The Wool (CTW) maps. The map pool will contain 5 maps, similar to our previous CTW tournament, Wool-E.

Kill proximity will not count towards breaking ties even if the plugin declares a winner. However, wool placement proximity will count towards scoring.

Teams are expected to be ready for their matches 15 minutes before they start and will not be given more than 5 minutes to get ready with the “/tm ready” command after being told to do so. Officials will not delay a match regardless of whether a team is ready or not.

Format

Our qualifier will take place on the weekend of the April 25th - April 26th, and will likely start at 11:00 am EDT. The format of the qualifier will be finalized after we know the exact amount of teams. This information will be released days after registration closes, in which a new post will be made on the website and on our Events Discord. Be ready to show up to both of those dates.

Our invitational will take place on the weekend of the May 2nd - May 3rd, and will likely start at 11:00 am EDT. The format of this qualifier will be finalized after we know the exact amount of teams. This information will be released days after registration closes in which a new post will be made here on the forums and on our Event Discord. Be ready to show up to both of those dates.

Maps

Our map pool will feature 5 maps. After over a month of testing, we have finalized the map pool with a strong variety of great gameplay maps. You can find a thread detailing each map here.

Discord

We use Discord to communicate during the event. Each team gets their own channel, you'll also be able to talk to keep up with any announcement and talk to refs.

Once your team has been confirmed, your team leader must write an email to tm@stratus.network with their Discord name & tag (e.g. username#1234). The team leaders will then be contacted and asked to provide the Discord information for their team members.

Make sure your whole team is in the Events Discord.

Scrimmages

We have constant scrimmages being hosted on /server Event1, Event2, and Event3. We have a scrim policy, which you can read below:

• If 2 teams are playing and one is waiting, that team will play the winner of the current match. (to ensure teams share server access)
• If a team wins 2 times in a row, they will sit out and the loser will play the waiting team.

Rules

All teams must have at least one player who is fluent in English. Furthermore, teams must stay in their Discord channel while playing; other voice communication services are not allowed. Keep in mind that by being on a roster for a team in the tournament, you are agreeing to be subject to our tournament rules. Links to the ruleset can be found below:

• English
• Spanish

Cheating

Like previous tournaments we will use screen sharing as a way to see if people cheat, this time we’re also looking into using 3rd party tools. If you agree to play in the tournament, you also agree to being screen shared by us with and without tools.

This will also be our first tournament with an anti cheat, this will be used to help us find cheaters, offering a better experience for everyone.

Schedule

• Registration Opens: Saturday, 11 April,
• Plugin and server testing: Saturday, 18 April,
• Registration Closes: Tuesday, 21 April at midnight EDT,
• Teams Confirmed: Wednesday, 22 April,
• Qualifier Format Announcement: Thursday, 23 April.

Qualifier

• Saturday, 25 April at 11:00 am EDT
• Sunday, 26 April at 11:00 am EDT

Invitationals:

• Saturday, 2 May at 11:00 am EDT
• Sunday, 3 May at 11:00 am EDT

Prizes

Tournament winners will get:

• Tournament Winner trophy on profile (when trophies are back)
• Custom tournament winner star in game*
• Tournament winner rank in Discord*
• Ability to control the music bot in Discord*
• Be able to join full teams*

The team that gets second place will get:

• Runner Up trophy on profile (when trophies are back)
• Runner Up rank in Discord*

*only apply until next tournament

Map Pool ¶

By Xerocoles and Valkyh

Hello everyone! This is the final map pool for ‘Stratus: The Rise of Woolwalker.’ After over a month of playtesting, creating, updating, and discussing, we have finalized the map pool to the following five maps.

NextGen
by ElectroidFilms

Jurassic
by Xerocoles

Gobi
by DoomyBoy

Wallop Too
by Claf and triplezko

We Sell Mushrooms
by Strangey, Claf, and triplezko

Veto Decider Map - Dead Heat
by AMo

Tiebreaker Map - Matrix
by Valkyh and Xerocoles

Entire Map Pool Album

Rules ¶

By Eudaldca

Note: You are responsible for staying up to date with the ruleset and announcements at all times.

Tournament Information thread

Be ready for your matches

• Your entire team must be in the events Discord server from when registration opens until the event is over.
• Do not practise right before your match starts, we will not wait for you.
• Show up in Discord during the assigned “check-in” time.
• Get your team members in your assigned Discord channel about half an hour before your match is due to start.
• If you are having problems with your permissions, go to the “Help Desk” channel.
• If you are unable to join your assigned channel and you don’t seek help, you will not have an excuse if you don’t make the start time.
• Substitutes are not allowed to communicate with playing teammates during the match.
• Substitutes should be muted and in their team’s channel.
• Be ready to start immediately at the assigned time.

Be a good sport

• Be respectful to other players and teams. Do not harass, mock or otherwise try to upset or antagonise other players or teams.

Communicate with us

• At least one team member must be able to speak English.
• Every person actively playing must be in their assigned Discord voice channel and will not be permitted to use other voice communication software during the event. Speaking through other Discord servers while playing is also not allowed.
• If you aren’t in either your voice channel or “Help Desk” in Discord, you are considered absent from the event.
• Event staff are permitted to enter your channel at any time for any reason.
• Report suspicious players and rule-breakers using /report.

Do not spy on other teams

• Never enter a channel that you have not been assigned to. If you are able to enter another team’s channel, you must inform a senior referee immediately.
• You may not obtain any information about your match while playing or waiting from live streams, other teams or players, any communication channels (Discord, Skype, Slack, etc.).
• Substitutes are not permitted to enter the match if they obtain any information as stated above.

Team Requirements

• Requirements for teams to participate are stated in the tournament information thread.
• Roster changes will be permitted at the discretion of the senior referees.
• The senior referees reserve the right to deny or approve any individual roster change on a case-by-case basis.
• All changes will be communicated to the community accordingly, giving them enough time to notice and act on new information and or changes in the team requirements.
• If you are banned on the public network during any scheduled matches you will not be allowed to play.

Use your own account

• Do not use someone else’s account to register or play.
• Do not give your account out for others to use in relation to the event.
• Each individual may only have one account registered and may only be registered for one team per event.

Show up and be prepared for matches

• Do not sign up if you cannot meet the minimum player requirements in each match.
• Make sure all of your team is ready to show up during the assigned times.
• You must join your designated server when told to by your referee.
• We won’t run a match unless your team has the minimum required number of players online and available to actively play the match.

Live streaming and recording

• You are allowed to stream your first person perspective (at your own risk).
• You are allowed to record matches.
• You are allowed to upload matches and scrimmages at any time.

Do not fight with us

• We all want the best experience; we aren’t out to get people.
• You may request a rule clarification from a senior referee.
• All decisions made by the senior referees are final.

Do not disrespect the event staff

• Don't harass, mock or try to upset any event staff member. This includes referees, officials, senior referees, event coordinators, livestreamers, etc.
• Criticism of the work of event staff must be delivered with politeness and personal respect.

Rule Exemptions

• Team griefing is allowed.
• All minimaps are illegal.
• Rule I.1 will not be honoured: all updates to this ruleset and the network ruleset take effect immediately.
• Spawn camping is allowed.

Screensharing

• If we suspect that you are cheating, you may be asked to screenshare.
• Any screenshare requests must be accepted and any direction given by a senior referee must be followed.
• We will respect your privacy; if you feel that a senior referee is violating your privacy, you may report them to the head referee.
• By registering in our tournaments, you consent to be screenshared, as per our Screensharing Policy.

Client Version

• Client version 1.7 to 1.12.2 are allowed, any later versions (1.13 or later) are not.

Bugs

• Abusing game breaking bugs or glitches is considered cheating.

The head referee reserves the right to remove any player or team from an event and reserves the right to tournament ban any player or team at any time for any reason without notice.

Punishments

All punishments are determined by the head referee.

Any punishment may include an infraction on the public network in addition to the punishments below.

Hacking and/or Cheating

• Team is dismissed from the event.
• Any players caught cheating will be banned.
• The entire registered team may be blacklisted from future events.

Individual breaks a rule

• Sit out until the next round ends.
• May be ejected from the event.
• If that violation affects the outcome of the game, the other team may be given a default win.

Individual breaks many rules (or flagrant violation)

• They will be dismissed from the event.
• They may be blacklisted from future events.

Individual refuses to screenshare or doesn’t follow instructions during a screenshare

• They may be dismissed from the event
• They may be blacklisted from future events.

Whole or significant part of a team break a rule

• Team is dismissed from the event.
• Team may be blacklisted from future events.

Team does not have enough players for a match

• Team is dismissed from the event.
• Team may be blacklisted from future events.

Individual found in a live stream chat

• The individual will be immediately removed from the current match and following match.
• If continued, team is dismissed from the event.
• You are responsible to make sure you are not in a live stream.
• You must close your browser window. (Note: Pausing the stream will still show your account in chat.)

Blacklist

• Any team or player dismissed from the event may be added to the blacklist.
• Being on the blacklist prevents players signing up for future events
• Teams are added to the blacklist because they will likely harm the organisation and flow of events.
• Players on the blacklist are issued a tournament ban punishment.
• They may open an appeal to contest the punishment.

Match Requirements

Match may be declared void if:

• Event servers and/or services have technical difficulties.
• Unforeseen events cause severe impacts to the match.
• A team or player is disqualified.
• The match is ended early for any reason.
• The head referee decides for any reason.

A void match may be:

• Replayed.
• Declared a default by judgment of the head referee.

Referee Staff

Head Referee: Majjus.
Senior Referees: amactus, Eudaldca, nigges60, serendipidu, _shrp and Shawnn.
Officials: byuri, Ivan and Stu.

Rules [ES] ¶

By _shrp

Nota: Eres responsable de permanecer al día del reglamento y los anuncios en todo momento.
Nota: en el caso de cualquier incongruencia entre esta traducción y el original, las reglas en inglés tendrán prioridad.

Post de información del torneo

Estate preparado para tus partidas

• Tu equipo entero debe estar en el servidor de Discord desde que los registros abren hasta que el torneo acabe.
• No practiques justo antes que tu partida empiece, no te esperaremos.
• Entra a Discord durante el tiempo asignado de "check-in".
• Consigue que tus compañeros estén en el canal de Discord asignado aproximadamente media hora antes que la partida empiece
• Si estás teniendo problemas con los permisos, ve al canal "Help Desk".
• Si no puedes entrar a tu canal de voz asignado y no buscas ayuda, no tendrás excusa si no estás en el servidor cuando tu partida empiece.
• No se permite a los sustitutos comunicarse con sus compañeros jugando en la partida.
• Los sustitutos deben estar enmudecidos y en el canal de su equipo.
• Estate preparado para empezar inmediatamente a la hora asignada.

Ten una conducta deportiva

• Sé respetuoso con los otros jugadores y equipos. No acoses, te burles, molestes o provoques de otras maneras a otros jugadores u otros equipos.

Comunícate con nosotros

• Al menos un jugador de cada equipo debe saber hablar en inglés.
• Todas las personas jugando deben estar en su canal de Discord asignado, y no se les permitirá usar ningún otro canal de comunicación por voz durante el evento. Hablar por otros servidores de Discord mientras se juega tampoco está permitido.
• Si no estás en tu canal de voz o en "Help Desk" en Discord, serás considerado ausente del evento.
• El staff de eventos puede entrar a tu canal en cualquier momento por cualquier razón.
• Reporta jugadores sospechosos o que rompan las reglas usando /report.

No espíes a otros equipos

• Nunca entres a un canal que no se te haya sido asignado. Si puedes entrar en el canal de otro equipo, informa a un senior referee inmediatamente.
• No obtengas información sobre tu partida mientras estés jugando o seas sustituto esperando de live streams, otros equipos o jugadores, o cualquier canal de comunicación (Discord, Skype, Slack, etc.).
• Los sustitutos no tienen permitido entrar en la partida si han obtenido cualquier tipo de información como se ha mencionado anteriormente.

Requisitos de equipo

• Los requisitos para que un equipo pueda participar están especificados en el post de información del torneo.
• Los cambios de composición de los equipos se permitirán a discreción de los senior referee.
• Los senior referees se reservan el derecho a aprobar o denegar cualquier cambio de composición de equipo caso por caso.
• Todos los cambios serán comunicados a la comunidad, de manera que se dará el tiempo suficiente para reconocerlos y actuar de forma acorde a los nuevos cambios y/o nueva información.
• Si eres baneado de la network pública durante una partida no podrás jugar.

Usa tu propia cuenta

• No uses la cuenta de otra persona para registrarte o jugar.
• No des tu cuenta a otros usuarios para que la usen en el evento.
• Cada individuo solo puede tener una única cuenta registrada, y sólo debe estar registrado para un único equipo por evento.

Preséntate y estate preparado para tus partidas

• No te registres si no puedes reunir el mínimo de jugadores requeridos en cada partida.
• Asegurate que tu equipo está preparado para jugar durante los tiempos asignados.
• Debes unirte a tu servidor designado cuando tu referee te lo comunique.
• No empezaremos una partida hasta que tu equipo tenga el mínimo de jugadores requeridos en línea y disponibles para jugar activamente la partida.

Directos y grabaciones

• Tienes permitido retransmitir en directo tu perspectiva en primera persona (a tu propio riesgo).
• Tienes permitido grabar las partidas.
• Tienes permitido subir partidas y scrimmages en cualquier momento.

No te pelees con nosotros

• Todos queremos la mejor experiencia; no estamos aquí para crear conflictos.
• Puedes pedir la clarificación de una regla a un senior referee.
• Todas las decisiones tomadas por los senior referees son finales.

No faltes el respeto al staff de eventos

• No acoses, molestes o intentes disgustar a ningún miembro del staff de eventos. Esto incluye a referees, officials, senior referees, event coordinators, livestreamers, etc.
• La crítica del trabajo del staff de eventos debe de ser dada con educación y respeto personal.

Exenciones de reglas

• Hacer team griefing está permitido.
• Todos los minimapas son ilegales.
• La regla I.1 no será aplicable: todos los cambios a este conjunto de reglas y al de la network entrarán en vigor inmediatamente.
• Hacer alianzas entre equipos está permitido.
• Hacer spawn camping está permitido.

Screensharing

• Si sospechamos que estás usando modificaciones ilegales, podremos pedirte hacer screenshare.
• Cualquier petición de screenshare debe ser aceptada y cualquier indicación dada por un senior referee debe ser seguida.
• Respetaremos tu privacidad; si sientes que un senior referee está violando tu privacidad puedes reportarlo al head referee.
• Al registrarte en nuestros torneos, consientes a que se te realice un screenshare, siguiendo nuestra política de screenshare.

Versión del cliente

• Las versiones de la 1.7 a la 1.12.2 están permitidas. Cualquier otra versión más nueva (1.13 o más reciente) no está permitida.

Bugs

• Abusar de bugs o glitches que tengan un impacto severo se considerará igual que haber usado hacks o haber hecho trampas.

El head referee se reserva el derecho a retirar a cualquier jugador o equipo del evento y se reserva el derecho a banear de los torneos a cualquier jugador o equipo en cualquier momento por cualquier razón sin notificarlo.

Sanciones

Todas las sanciones son determinadas por el head referee.

Cualquier sanción podrá incluir una infracción en la network pública además de las sanciones siguientes

Uso de hacks y/o hacer trampas

• El equipo es descalificado.
• Cualquier jugador pillado haciendo trampas o usando hacks será baneado.
• Todos los integrantes del equipo registrado podrán ser añadidos a la blacklist de futuros eventos

Individuo rompe una regla

• Espera hasta que acabe la ronda.
• Podrá ser expulsado del evento.
• Si esa infracción afecta el resultado del juego, el otro equipo podrá recibir una victoria por defecto.

Individuo rompe muchas reglas (o infracción flagrante).

• Serán descalificados del evento.
• Podrán ser añadidos a la blacklist de futuros eventos.

Individuo se niega a hacer screenshare o no sigue instrucciones durante un screenshare.

• El equipo podrá ser descalificado del evento.
• Podrán ser añadidos a la blacklist de futuros eventos.

Todo un equipo o una parte significante de este rompe una regla

• El equipo es descalificado del evento.
• El equipo podrá ser añadido a la blacklist de futuros eventos.

Equipo no tiene suficientes jugadores para una partida

• El equipo es descalificado del evento.
• El equipo podrá ser añadido a la blacklist de futuros eventos.

Individuo encontrado en el chat de un directo

• El individuo será inmediatamente retirado de la partida que está siendo jugada y de la siguiente.
• Si continúa, el equipo es descalificado del evento.
• Debes de estar seguro que no estás en un directo.
• Debes cerrar la venta de tu navegador. (Nota: Aunque pauses el directo tu cuenta seguirá viéndose en el chat.)

Blacklist

• Cualquier equipo o jugador descalificado del evento podrá ser añadido a la balcklist.
• Estar en la blacklist impide que los jugadores se registren en futuros eventos.
• Los equipos se añaden a la blacklist porque es probable que dañen la organización y la fluidez de los eventos.
• Los jugadores en la blacklist se les pone un “tournament ban”.
• Podrán abrir un appeal para disputar la infracción.

Requisitos de partida

Una partida podrá ser declarada inválida si:

• Los servidores y/o servicios del evento sufren dificultades técnicas.
• Eventos imprevistos causan impactos severos a la partida.
• Un equipo o jugador es descalificado.
• La partida termina prematuramente por cualquier motivo.
• El head referee así lo decide por cualquier motivo.

Una partida inválida podrá ser:

• Vuelta a jugar.
• Declarada una victoria por defecto según el criterio del head referee.

Referee Staff

Head Referee: Majjus.
Senior Referees: amactus, Eudaldca, nigges60, serendipidu, _shrp and Shawnn.
Officials: bYuri, Ivan and Stu.

Referee Applications are now Open! ¶

By Shawnn

Hey everyone!

We are looking for referees to give us a hand in our upcoming events. Referees spectate tournament matches and notify us of everything going on. It is necessary that referees are mature, responsible, and capable of following directions.

The following are requirements for becoming a referee:

• You must be able to use Discord.
• You must have a microphone for easy communication with other event staff and teams.
• You must be able to speak and understand English.
• You must be available to referee in our next event.

In applications, we look for honest answers. Our decision for accepting applicants is also based on the quality of the application and how you present yourself. In order to apply, please send an email to tm@stratus.network.

Title the email “Referee application for [your Minecraft name]”. In the application, please include:

• Your Minecraft username & Discord tag.
• Whether or not you meet the requirements.
• What your availability looks like.
• What qualifies you for the position.
• Your reasoning behind wanting to be a referee.
• Any other notes you would like to add.

It is important that you include answers to all of the questions stated above.

NOTE: You must be able to referee our next event. If you are interested in applying for Referee, but cannot referee this event, don't worry! We'll have applications in the future as well.

Referee applications close at 23:59 EDT on April 17th. Any applications sent after this date may not be considered. We look forward to working with you!

Looking forward to reading your apps,
Stratus Event Team

Streamer Applications are now Open! ¶

By Shawnn

Requirements:

• Must be able to use Discord
• Must be able to stream with good quality

What else we look for:

• Good commentary
• Past experience
• Personable, a good attitude and honesty

Livestreamers are people who stream on our website, live via twitch, to showcase matches that we're running on official servers during tournaments. Livestreamers are essential to us and the community who are not able to see the matches in game. We encourage livestreamers to co-stream with their friends to help keep conversation fresh, and so nobody misses anything that happens live. Note: As a streamer, you will be required to use graphic elements (such as an overlay) that we will provide to you.

If you are interested please send an email to tm@stratus.network with your subject line as "Livestreamer Application for [your Minecraft name]."

In your email, please include:

• Minecraft username
• The language you'll be streaming in
• Your general availability (let us know if you plan to play in tournaments as well)
• Links to past livestreams, and your experience
• Whether you meet the requirements
• Why you want to be a livestreamer
• Any other information you want to add
• Any links to other videos or channels of yours on other platforms (YT)

Livestreamer applications close on April 18th. Any applications sent after this date will be looked at but may not receive a response. We look forward to working with you!

Regards,
The Event Staff

Leap Day Update ¶

By ItzaMeLuigi and stupid3700

Hello everyone and happy leap day!

Our staff have been hard at work and have made a lot of progress on the network. This post will outline what’s been done and what is being released.

Stats and Player Profiles ¶

Firstly, player pages have been re-added to the website thanks to the work of our web developer, halfmaster1! This includes stats for both PGM and Duels. Not only that, but old stats are now imported and have been added on top of your current stats! For now the page is fairly barebones, but over time we’ll be sprucing it up with new features and customization.

Click here to check a profile out.

Rules ¶

Our rules have also been substantially updated, which we hope will make them clearer and simpler. In line with rule G3 of the old rules, or I1 of the new rules, the new rules will take effect on 7 March 2020. Please make sure you read over the rules before they come into force: https://stratus.network/rules. Mutes, as explained below, will go live on 7 March, at the same time as the new rules.

Mutes ¶

We’re introducing a muting system for chat offences on the network. We feel this will allow us to better deal with chat rule violations and create a more pleasant chat environment. We also feel that the current system can punish people too harshly for minor chat offences, and that muting rulebreakers, rather than banning them, is more proportionate. Mutes will progressively increase in duration for each mute you receive. To ensure mutes are effective as a punishment, mute times only reduce whilst you’re online playing on the server - if you get a 1-hour mute, you need to play for 1 hour before you can chat again. However, to balance this out, particularly for players who can’t play on the network a lot, all mutes will expire automatically after 1 week, regardless of how much you’ve actually played. Note that once you’ve received 4 mutes, you’ll start to receive conventional punishments, such as bans, though we hope that we won’t need to go that far.

Appeals ¶

We are introducing a ticket-based support website to provide a centralised system for appealing punishments and reporting players. This will provide an interim solution whilst we work on a new system which is fully integrated into our website. If you want to appeal a punishment, or report a player with evidence, please visit our support page and submit a ticket: https://support.stratus.network. Along with this, punishment history from the old database has been imported. If you’ve played on the server since December, don’t worry - you are not being banned again. If you’ve not been on Stratus since December, please submit an appeal - we’ll be more forgiving than usual, and you’ll likely get a second chance.

Setnext Event ¶

To celebrate the launch of profiles, we will be hosting a Setnext event today at 5:00PM EST. Make sure to join to play some fun maps like Infection, Rage and more!

Future Plans ¶

Our devs are working diligently on improving our servers, here are a few things you can look forward to:

• private servers
• leaderboards
• discord registration
• website appeals and reports

Thanks for sticking around with us, and we hope you enjoy these updates!

Map Making Competition #4 ¶

By Valkyh

After the Micro rotation was introduced almost exactly one year ago on February the 6th in the 19th Rotation Update, plenty new maps have been built to fit a small player count. However, since it is the newest rotation format still, there are not too many maps that fit into the rotation. The result is that many maps in the Micro rotation are overplayed and ready to be replaced with fresh ones...

This is one of the main reasons why we are so happy to announce our 4th Map Making Competition, the Micro Map Making Competition! Micro maps, an overhaul of the last rating system, real prize money, talent scouting and many more things are coming at you in this competition. Start building your map now and win special prizes!

Schedule

Start of building period/Submissions open: as of this announcement
Submissions close: March 8th, 11:59pm EST
Testing Sessions: March 14th/15th - 21st/22nd
Scores and winners are announced: March 27th

Rules

• All maps are subject to fit the standards listed in this document: stratus.network/micro
• Maps must not be authored by more than ONE person.
• Other people are allowed to contribute to your map (building, feedback or else), but need to be listed as contributors in the submission along with their type of contribution.
• You can submit as many maps as you wish, but only your highest scoring map will count.
• You must not submit maps that have been submitted to Stratus before.
• You must not submit maps that you did not make yourself.
• Your submission must not exceed the deadline (March 8th, 11:59pm).
• By submitting your map you agree to our Map Submission policy. (stratus.network/map-policy)
• Map Developers and Judges are not allowed to give feedback on any MMC map.
• Any violation of the rules will result in the submission being disqualified.
• Map Developers and Judges reserve the right to deny the admittance of any submission to the competition.

Submissions

• To submit your map you need to follow these instructions:
• Connect to our building server via anax.stratus.network.
• Create a new world using /create mmc_<your map name>.
• If you would like to let other people join your world, use /state public, otherwise keep your world private by using /state private.
• Build your map in this particular world, you can access it via /map <your map name>.
• After you finish the map, fill out this form with information about your map: forms.gle/MBjYivc2RnYacGRw6
• Repeat for any other maps you want to submit.

All submitted maps are going to receive an XML made by the Map Developers. If you however want to XML your map by yourself, send the XML after submitting your map to Ruediger_LP via Discord (Ruediger#4150)

Scores

The judging team consists of the following people: Valkyh (Head Judge), AlmightyBread, ItzaMeLuigi, Xerocoles, Blazy36, and Sharkskill.

Your map can score a total of 50 points.
These points are weighted as follows:

• Gameplay /25
  • General balance /10
  • Layout /5
  • Game progression /5
  • Understandability of map /5
• Aesthetics /15
  • Theme /5
  • Terrain /5
  • Miscellaneous /5
• Innovation /10
  • Layout uniqueness /5
  • Aesthetics uniqueness /5

Anonymity

After we announced the contest, the community requested to have increased anonymity in this contest, which made us reconsider this previously discarded concept. In favor of (highly) increasing the chance of a fair rating for every map, we assigned a few Map Developers to handle the submissions entirely and also remove any track of the author in the map for the testing. This means that if you submitted a map, during the testing period your name will not be shown related to your map. Any player heads, signs containing the player name or else are also going to be temporarily removed. (Note: You still need to enter exact names in the map submission, since otherwise your submission will not be accepted)

We are also restricting the judges from freely teleporting to people on our building server as that may reveal the connection between you and the map you are making. If any judge teleports to you without your consent, please contact Valky#2870 via Discord. You should however acknowledge that if you for example post screenshots of your map in Discord or else, your loss of anonymity will be in your own responsibility.

Prizes

1st Place - $35 (USD), Alto Rank, [MMC Winner] Discord Rank for 3 months
2nd Place - $15 (USD), Alto Rank, [MMC Runner-up] Discord Rank for 3 months
3rd Place - Strato Rank

If you are a winner, we are going to contact you through the Discord username you submitted your map with to talk about your preferred method of receiving the prize.

Legal notes

No purchase is necessary to enter this competition. Shop purchases do not enhance the chance of winning. Void where prohibited. By entering this competition, you declare that you have satisfied all relevant legal requirements for entering this competition in your jurisdiction, and you acknowledge that your entry will be void, should it become apparent that you are legally prohibited from entering or have failed to satisfy your legal obligations.

Resources

Micro Standards Documentation: stratus.network/micro
Anax Guide: stratus.network/anax
Mapmaking Discord channel: discord.gg/PFrDrc8

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask them in the #mapmaking channel or direct them to me on Discord (Valky#2870).

Duels Season 1 Release ¶

By ShinyDialga

Season 1 of Duels has been released! To join, connect to play.stratus.network and use the server picker or type /server duels to join. There have been a number of changes since Season 0 (you can read more about Season 0 here and here), so this post will outline all the new changes.

Firstly, you can now purchase loot boxes with coins to unlock cosmetics! There are three tiers: Normal, Super, and Ultra. The Normal boxes are the best for obtaining commons and uncommons, the Super boxes are the best for obtaining rares and ultra rares, and the Ultra boxes are the best for obtaining legendaries and unheards. If you pull a duplicate, you will get coins back based on how rare your cosmetic was.

Next, knockback has been modified. We received a lot of feedback from our Season 0 tests, so we have taken them into account and made adjustments accordingly. We are open to changing them again in the future, so feel free to provide feedback for these new values.

The ELO formula also has been modified to prevent overinflation. High ranks are still obtainable, but they are not as easy to get as it was in Season 0. On a separate note, Skybridge ELO gains and losses have been cut in half. Since the matches were so quick, it was extremely easy to push it. It should now be more similar to the other ladders.

Matchmaking has been modified so that waiting longer increases the potential opponent ELO range significantly.

Casual ladders have been enabled.

You can now run /stats to check your wins, losses and win/loss ratio. The stats are split by ladder, as well as having a global tracker!

In terms of arenas, we strived to create maps that were both aesthetically pleasing and play well. In total, there are 18 arenas which can be broken down as the following (italicmaps are new to season 1):
Archer Ladder: Caves, Badland, Hieroglyph, Woodwork
BuildUHC/Stratus Ladder: Aquatic, Badland, Caves, End, Hieroglyph, Nether, Roofed, Savannah, Snowbound
NoDebuff Ladder: Ocean, Overcast, Wireframe
Skybridge Ladder: oof, Skyline, Sphynx, Tron, Waterfall
We will continue to supply new maps as the season progresses!

We also want to congratulate gagagdgguacamole as they were #1 Global ELO in Season 0! They have received The Crown, which is an exclusive cosmetic that applies to every ladder they play in.

Misc Changes:
- You now see your ELO in a match
- /hub works
- You get a sound in game when your match starts
- There's a new hotbar item that lets you play again after a ranked match

We have many more plans for Duels that are currently in the works, such as an anticheat and objective based ladders. The devs will be working hard to provide consistent updates to duels, so we hope you stick around for more!

Archer Tournament ¶

By Sharkskill

We are excited to announce our first Duels Tournament! It will be focused on the Archer kit. The archer kit is similar to Badlion’s implementation of archer where arrows deal damage based on distance. Play against other players in a massive 1v1 tournament of bows! You can sign up via the link here.

Format ¶

The tournament will be broken into two stages, a Swiss stage and a Bracket stage. During the swiss stage, players will play a Bo1 against opponents who have a similar win/loss record. There will be a maximum of 10 rounds, however, this stage will be cut short if matches exceed the 2 ½ hour time limit imposed. For the bracket stage, the top 16 players of the swiss-stage will face of in a single elimination Bo3 bracket. It will start at 2:30PM EST and players will be seeded relative to how they did during the first stage. The bracket will be announced when signups close. In both formats, matches will be started by a ref messaging you and your opponent to ensure that you’re around. If you don’t reply within 5 mins of the ref messaging you then you’ll be treated as not showing and given the loss.

Registration & Rules ¶

To register for this event, you must have a Google and Discord account. The sign up form is here. and you can join our tournament discord here for more information. You can find the rules for this tournament here.

Schedule ¶

• Registration Opens: Now - Sign Up Here.
• Registration Closes: Thursday, January 30th @ 11:59PM EST
• Matches Begin: Saturday, February 1st @ 12:00PM EST

Prizes ¶

The top 3 winning players will get

First Place: Cirro + Unique Archer Tournament Animated Armor + 2 Ultra Boxes
Second Place: 3 months Nimbus + 2 Ultra Boxes
Third Place: 1 month Nimbus + 1 Ultra Box

Duels Season 1 ¶

By ShinyDialga

Hello everyone! A lot has been going on with Duels behind the scenes, and now everything is ready to be revealed! To start: Season 0 testing will be open every day this week. Check #events to see when the server is online. Climb the rankings today on play.stratus.network with /server Duels. On top of that, Season 1 will be launching next Saturday (January 25th). There are new incentives to play, many of which are active now for Season 0. Be sure to read up about them all down below!

New Ladders ¶

NoDebuff

Defeat your opponent using only healing/support potions!

Archer

Equipped with only a bow, you must shoot your opponent to death. Arrows do more damage the further away you are. Be sure to make every shot count!

Custom Layouts

Custom layouts are here! To change your layout, you must be in the lobby. From there click on the iron helmet to select a kit to edit. You can swap around items in any way you like. Once you are done, simply close the inventory. More custom slots will be available in the future.

Cosmetics ¶

Cosmetics have gotten a MASSIVE overhaul. Plenty more have been added with fun ways to obtain them.

Tiers

There are many different tiers of cosmetics you can unlock. Here are them all:

• Common
• Uncommon
• Rare
• Ultra Rare
• Legendary
• Unheard
  • This is the rarest tier you can get from a loot box. You won’t know what they are unless you or someone you see uses it!
• Unique
  • These items can only be obtained through special means such as rank ups in ladder or Twitter competitions. You can’t unlock these from loot boxes.

Coins

A new currency has been added to Duels: Coins! You can earn Coins by playing ranked matches and doing quests. With those Coins, you can purchase loot boxes to obtain fancy cosmetics that apply in game! There will be many tiers of loot boxes, so spend your Coins wisely if you want to earn the rarest cosmetics. Ladder themed loot boxes will also be available at a higher price if you want to unlock a specific item. During Season 0 you can earn Coins by playing matches, but loot boxes will not be purchasable until Season 1 officially launches. So be sure to save them up!

Types

A lot of new cosmetics will become available: over 100 will be unlockable at launch! Here is a little taste of what there will be available. Do note that while some cosmetics may be made of entirely different materials, nothing gameplay related will be affected using our custom developed system.

The Crown

This is the rarest cosmetic in the entire server. There will never be more than one in existence. Whoever has the highest #1 Global Ladder Rating at the end of every season will inherit it from the previous owner. It is an enchanted golden crown that is visible on every single ladder and in the lobby. Whoever has the highest Global Ladder Rating at the end of Season 0 will be the first to obtain it!

Custom Leather Armor Colors

Both Stratus and Archer kits have a lot of leather, so why not be stylish with some different colors? If you’re lucky, you may even obtain awesome animated armor that transitions smoothly between a colorful gradient!

Custom Blocks

Both Stratus and BuildUHC have many blocks including wood, cobblestone, and glass. Change up their appearance using other similar looking blocks you can obtain in loot boxes.

Custom Potion Skins

Unlock fancy skins for your potions in NoDebuff!

Skybridge Sumo Slappers

Slap your opponents off in style with funny items!

Custom Food

Change the type of food you eat in each ladder. Hope you’re not a picky eater!

Lobby

Many fun types of armor and more will be available for you to show off while you wait for your matches. Remember that Twitter competition?

ELO Changes ¶

After much consideration, I have changed the Rating formula for the remaining days of Season 0. In the few tests we’ve had, a lot of matches were played. However, nobody ever managed to get past Gold rank in any single ladder. This is because when you lost to people who were 1000 Rating below you, you lose a lot. To compensate, the Fair Start threshold has been changed to Obsidian Rank. What that means is that you won’t lose as much Rating per match until you reach Obsidian. You also don’t lose as much to people who are lower than you as before. This should allow for many more people to get higher than previous tests.

Another big thing to note is that ELO will be reset for the remainder of Season 0. This is because we have migrated Duels to the new API entirely, and converting over the old data would be a tedious task. However, the previously stated ELO changes means that it will be much easier to push than before, so getting back your old ranks should be much easier.

Minor Changes ¶

• You can now check the leaderboard using the sign in your hotbar
• The in match scoreboard now tells you about your opponent
• /duel is reenabled
• Casual ladders have been disabled for now
• Support for a secret future addition has been added
• Minor improvements

Hope you enjoy all these changes! Thanks for playing Stratus Duels.

Ranked Season 3 ¶

By Sharkskill.

Announcing Stratus Ranked Season 3, where you can play competitive score based matches anytime against other players! It launches on Saturday 18th January at 5 PM EST.

For more info join the ranked discord at discord.gg/qSCrWfD.

Old School CTW Event ¶

By Valkyh

Do you miss the old times of playing games of Capture the Wool with full teams? Do you miss the challenge of defending and rushing with lots of opponents on the map? Do you simply miss the atmosphere playing on map like they were back in the day?

Join in on old school versions of Capture the Wool classics and favorites. Our staff has compiled a pool of over 20 maps that are in their ORIGINAL Overcast Network state from 2012-2015. Some of which versions may be outdated, but definitely held highly — for a good reason!

We got you! Everything you miss, everything you loved is back — exclusively starting at 12pm EST (6pm for Central Europe) on 11th January, the upcoming Saturday. We will also have a few famous content creators playing the event throughout the day, so make sure to check for streams if you cannot play yourself!

Check out this trailer by bYuri for some epic nostalgic vibes:

Old School CTW Event Map Pool (subject to change)

• A New Day
• Argon
• Bamboo Valley OLD
• Battle Ecliptica III
• Below Zero
• Blocks CTW OLD
• Broken Unity
• Fairy Tales 2: A tale or two
• Fourchette OLD
• Golden Drought
• Hadron
• Hydrolock
• Jungle Beat OLD
• Kytriak
• Mushroom Gorge
• Pipe Palace
• Race for Victory
• Race for Victory 2
• Race for Victory 3
• Ring Race
• Royal Garden CTW OLD
• Smog
• Tenebrous
• Turf Wars
• Twisted
• Two Tier
• Utopia
• Wit’s End OLD

Note: Maps marked as OLD have their special nostalgic versions loaded. If a map isn’t marked as old it didn’t receive any major revamps after the CTW prime time, so it still is the nostalgic version.

Current State and Duels ¶

By ShinyDialga

Hello! I’ve been working hard the past few weeks on new things, and I’m extremely excited to share it all with you! I understand that the past month has been rough, but I assure that everything is moving forward smoothly behind the scenes. We have been keeping everything quiet to avoid false promises, but now we’re ready to announce everything new Stratus will offer.

What Has Been Happening? ¶

As you may know, a lot has happened the past few weeks. I want to clarify everything that has happened and what decisions were made.

About two weeks ago, our 1.12 PGM setup was crashing all the time. Only a handful of us could deal with it, and due to our busy schedules, the server was down a lot. Not only that, but we were paying the same amount as full uptime, which meant were essentially throwing money away. We tested the 1.8 server as a standalone, and it performed much better. Everything seemed to be going good, right?

Well, not exactly. While a standalone PGM was saving us money, we focused on that issue too much. We downgraded the box to the point where memory errors were crashing the server constantly. As a result, I’ve recently upgraded the box. I will try my hardest to keep the uptime higher than it ever has been moving forward.

In that process, we turned the old API off as it was far too expensive for what little use it provided. This included shutting down the website, which was the only main use for the API. We have moved to a static one as a temporary placeholder to keep costs down significantly. We took a backup before shutting it down, but nothing is currently using it. As we move forward, I’ll be importing that old data into our new systems.

Another big problem was that the server itself has been lacking a lot of features. Bans were temporary and reset every restart. There were no ranks, so everyone but OPs were equal and all donator perks were worthless. I’ve brought a basic form of ranks and punishments back with the new API. That being said, PGM still has a lot more work to do, and I’ll be ensuring more gets completed in the future.

For all of the trouble that’s been happening, I’m truly sorry. I’ve had to silently fix the issues on this so as to not make any false promises, but I want to show we will be stronger moving forward with many new things to show for it.

Duels ¶

Remember my post a few weeks ago where I promised Duels would be our next gamemode? We’re happy to announce that it has secretly been developed, and the Season 0 server is live NOW! Climb the rankings today on duels.stratus.network using any version 1.7+. Read on for an explanation of the gamemode.

Ladders

Stratus
Fight iron against iron with this classic kit. Build structures to gain an advantage in combat!

BuildUHC
After a long game of UHC, use your obtained gear to win the game! Be careful, health doesn’t regenerate in this ladder!

NoDebuff (COMING SOON)
Take advantage of all the health potions you have to gain the long term advantage over your opponent!

Skybridge Sumo (COMING SOON)
Knock your opponent off of the skybridge using any cheap tactic you can come up with!

And more! (...Did I just hear an explosion?)

Rating

At Stratus, we take competitive seriously. To keep true to our values, I wanted to build a unique system that is fun to play and competitive at the same time. That is why I came up with the Ranking System. Everybody starts at the minimum Rating of 0 and progresses forward through the ranks as they play and get better.

Ranks

• Wood: 25
• Stone: 100
• Leather: 250
• Iron: 500
• Lapis: 750
• Redstone: 1000
• Gold: 1250
• Emerald: 1500
• Diamond: 1750
• Obsidian: 2000

Rating Explanation

In the Rating System, you win more Rating for beating people who have a higher Rating than you, and less Rating for beating people who have a lower Rating than you. The opposite applies to losing, where the underdog gets more Rating for winning. The formulas we run are heavily based on ELO. In our system, if you win against a person who is the same Rating as you, you gain about 30 Rating. That amount increases up to 2x as much depending on how much higher their Rating is compared to yours.

Global Rank

Your Global Rank is a separate unit of measurement that showcases those who can master all ladders. It is calculated by taking the average of your Ratings across all ladders, so push everything to increase your Global Rank!

Unlimited Ranked Matches

Everybody will have unlimited ranked matches! You can also queue up for ranked matches as soon as you join the server. Since the Rating gap between high and low ranked players is larger here, lower ranked players will have little effect on high. More information on that is explained below.

Fair Start

One system we have incorporated into our Rating formulas is a Fair Start algorithm. Everybody starts at 0 Rating, and cannot drop below that number. This system also implements what I call a Rating Threshold. You don’t lose as much Rating until you reach this Threshold, which is currently at the Redstone Rank (1000). The amount you lose gradually increases until you reach this Threshold. The Fair Start formulas are designed to benefit both new players and old players trying out new ladders, while still keeping the competitive aspect at the top. Once you climb into the higher ranks, the effects from the Fair Start system will not affect you at all. This also makes it hard to farm Rating off of lower accounts as the gap between the best and the worst will be larger thanks to this system.

Prestige

For our hardcore players, the ultimate goal will be our Prestige Ranks. Once you reach Obsidian Rank (2000), you can earn Prestige Levels for every 100 extra Rating you earn. For example, you start with Obsidian I at 2000, Obsidian II unlocks at 2100, Obsidian III unlocks at 2200, and so on. How far can you push the limits?

Matchmaking

Matchmaking is an important part of any competitive game where you queue, so I want to be completely open about our system. When you queue up, there is a range of Ratings that you can play against. The longer you wait, the larger this range gets. Once somebody gets in your range, you will fight. Since this is our first season, the ranges are very large such that nobody will wait long if somebody else is in the queue. I will see how well it does this season and will adjust it accordingly.

Cosmetics

To have fun things for you to unlock, we will be adding more cosmetics as time goes on. At launch, the Stratus Rank Colored Leggings will be unlockable. This cosmic is applied automatically when you play matches with the Stratus kit. It is a dyed armor piece that reflects your current Stratus Ladder Rank. While it may look weak, it is actually as strong as iron and has no effect on gameplay. The plan is to add more cosmetics in the future, and I want to make some hard to unlock. Hint: Pay attention to the leaderboards! ;)

Miscellaneous Features

Duel other players by using /duel <player> <ladder>.

View leaderboards for any ladder using /leaderboards <ladder>. You can also view Global Rank leaderboards by using /leaderboards global.

View both your status and your opponent’s status after a match with post-match inventories. They are clickable in chat after each ranked match.

Coming Soon

• Custom Kits
• Spectating
• Leaderboard GUI
• And More!

PGM ¶

While a lot has changed with Duels, PGM has not been forgotten. The API I have been developing for Duels was also designed with PGM in mind. We now have working punishments and ranks back on the server. I’ve imported most premium purchases, but I still need to import recent ones — they will be taken care of soon. New donations will also be manual for the time being, so bear with us as we move to this new system. The server itself has been experiencing a lot of problems recently, but I’ve wrote another section further down to explain more about our past situation and current status.

Now that PGM 1.8 is open source https://github.com/Electroid/PGM, there’s no better time to start contributing than right now. I’ve been hard at work getting Duels ready, but once it’s stable we will be putting more work into PGM again.

Website ¶

We all miss the old website, but it was unreasonably expensive and tied very closely to the old plugin. So today I'm excited to announce the release of a new website!

Since we wanted to replace the static website as quickly as possible, this website is still missing a ton of features, but we’ll be working on gradually re-adding them.

If you have any ideas, concerns, or suggestions, feel free to message Half#6583 on discord.

What’s Next? ¶

Thankfully the server is now more stable. There is still a lot to be done, but now we have something to show to move forward.

While PGM may run fine now, it still needs a lot of improvement to catch up to its old state. Rotations are a huge priority at the moment, as the maps are too random now. Many ranks are incomplete at this time, but their features will get added back one by one. Private servers are a high priority, but will take some time until they’re back. Everyone who had one during the downtime will be compensated when this new system is in place. Punishments are also on a new data set, and I will bring back the old data once I get it converted to the new format. I also want to keep expanding PGM as a plugin, and will continue to do so once we get it back to its former glory.

Now that Duels is out of the pipework, we will be gathering input on how to improve it for future seasons. New ladders will come soon, and are almost ready. They will likely be available as unranked ladders later in the current season. I want to come up with innovative ladders to keep everything fresh for future seasons. I’ll be constantly developing new features for the current season, so stay tuned for more.

Thank you for sticking with us the past few weeks. I hope to keep everything strong going forward, and will try my hardest to do so. I hope you enjoy everything in the upcoming weeks!